50 Book Challenge 2020 Part Six

[southeastdweller]

Welcome to the sixth thread of the 50 Book Challenge for this year.

The challenge is to read fifty books (or more!) in 2020, though reading fifty isn't mandatory. Any type of book can count, it's not too late to join, and please try to let us all know your thoughts on what you've read.

The first thread of the year is here, the second one here, the third one here, the fourth one here and the fifth one here.

So, we're now almost half way through the year - how's the first half of the year gone for you, reading-wise?

It's contagion, I tell ya. I got Peacock too. What's that, R4?

92. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Some years ago I read and absolutely adored Rainbow Rowell's YA novel Eleanor And Park I thought it was gorgeous and didn't want it to end.

Off the strength of it I bought Fangirl, another YA, and this, her only adult novel, but found I couldn't get going with either, but in the spirit of clearing unread books, here we are.

In the early days of internet, Lincoln is employed to enforce a professional usage policy, but in the process falls for Beth when her emails to her friend Jennifer are repeatedly flagged. He doesn't give her a warning, and without telling her, continues to read her email, discovering she refers to him as Cute Guy.

Yet another case of creepy behaviour and voyeurism dressed up as romance I'm afraid, and even without that you are basically trawling through mundane conversations of two mates chatting bollocks for pages on end.

No.

@PepeLePew

I remember enjoying The Northern Clemency too, highland. I do really think that any issues with The Friendly Ones are mine, not Hensher's. Just a case of the wrong book at the wrong time.

I also enjoyed The Northern Clemency but haven't read The Friendly Ones - it's now on my list waiting for it to be 99p in the future.

Thank you for the tips. I've downloaded Footman for the Peacock and put Spam Tomorrow on my wishlist. Work is manic at the moment (for which I'm grateful) so I don't have as much reading time as I'd like.

What a wonderful blog! Many thanks for the link Harlan.

Thank you for the Peacock heads up, Sadik ! I'd heard of Furrowed Middlebrow but hadn't looked at their catalogue. This one, A Chelsea Concerto, is also free at the moment and looks good: furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.com/2013/10/frances-faviell-chelsea-concerto-1959.html

Keith, Keith, what are you doing to my TBR? Off to investigate the Furrowed Middlebrow blog ...

Oh my God. I didn't realise they have a BLOG so I'm now following it on my blog reader. Bankruptcy beckons

An overdue update.
22. If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
Set in New York and following the story of a young black couple, Fonny is in prison awaiting trial for a rape that he didn't commit while his girlfriend Tish is pregnant and, along with her family, doing everything she can to help Fonny to cope with life inside and working with his lawyer to try to get him freed.
I had read reviews of this and vaguely knew there had been a film version a year or two ago so had somehow assumed this was a fairly recent novel and was surprised to read a couple of paragraphs at the start of the BorrowBox ebook describing the authors life and revealing that this was published in 1974. It would usually be a positive to say that a book hasn't aged but in this case it seems like a sad reflection on race relations in the USA that it still feels very relevant now. It reminded me of The Hate U Give in the portrayal of black families who are pragmatic about the entrenched injustice and terrible situation they find themselves in while figuring out how to fight for their loved ones - trying to change the situation without being able to change the system. It's also about the love between Fonny and Tish and the love of her family (and his father) - the lengths they will go to against odds stacked against them.
This is a short novel that says a lot and I'm not a skilled enough reviewer to do it justice. I finished it a couple of weeks ago now and I don't feel done with it - planning to watch both the film version of the novel and I Am Not Your Negro as previously mentioned on here as it's a novel I'm keen to look at from other angles.
23. Those Who Are Loved by Victoria Hislop
A family saga centred on Themis and her life in Greece through the 20th Century, taking in the Nazi occupation, fighting for communism, civil war and the influence of all of this on her family life from childhood through to sharing her stories with her grandchildren.
This was ambitious in the long time period and complex issues it tried to cover, and there was a good plot in there but by the end I felt this novel was trying to do too much. I knew nothing about the history of Greece through the 20th Century and so in some ways I think this is a book I'll remember. Something about the writing made me lose track of what events were huge, the main character's life just changed type pivot points, and which were 'they went for a walk and had their tea' type background scene setting filler - all seemed to be dealt with in the same way somehow. Covering less ground, and done better, this could have been a really good read as there was enough in this to make me want to keep going to the end.
Now reading A Fatal Inheritance by Rachel Rhys and listening to The Five after many favourable reviews on here.

There is another Rachel Ferguson book available free to download, Evenfield. The tone looks to be very different from Peacock - gentler and more nostalgic. I do pay for books sometimes, I promise. I always feel a bit guilty when I download a freebie.

@Palegreenstars Thank you. I'll be very interested to find out what you think when you read it. It is one of the best books I have read this year.

Thanks Harlan, picked up that one too. I don't feel guilty either, given the author died decades ago so I'm not depriving her of income. (I did a little calculation last night of how much I had spent on Kindle books and was slightly horrified at the total. But less than a coffee a day, I suppose).

Keith the Faviell is one of the two I ordered after finishing the Anderson, it's supposed to be very good!

BTW anyone ever ordered a book that hasn't arrived and been told by the bookseller that maybe the post office is secretly holding it without telling anyone/leaving a card?!

Just finished Two Besides: A Pair of Talking Heads by Alan Bennett, his latest book, published yesterday on ebook and out in hardback in October. There were some fascinating insights in Nicholas Hytner's introduction into rehearsing and planning in lockdown the recent TV series but one of Bennett's two new monologues here - The Shrine - is one of the most mundane stories he's written. An Ordinary Woman, based on the French play Phèdre, about a woman's incestuous feelings for her teenage son, is better - thought provoking but horribly unsettling.

CluelessMama, Beale Street is such a good book isn’t it? I’ve not watched the film as I don’t want to risk even slightly denting my love of the book. Plus the ending is different and I don’t feel good about that.

BTW anyone ever ordered a book that hasn't arrived and been told by the bookseller that maybe the post office is secretly holding it without telling anyone/leaving a card?!

Because of course the post office steal parcels all the time! Not!

I wouldn’t believe that. I could believe that it’s stuck in a sorting office because coronavirus has put pressure on the post office, our post deliveries are still slower than normal.

Is there a possibility that the bookseller forgot to post it and didn’t want to admit that?

Thanks Stitches it seemed to me I was being fobbed off, and an odd excuse. The bookseller told me to contact the local depot and find out if they were holding the parcel and had forgotten to leave a card! But have never had this happen, and I order a lot of online stuff, second-hand books etc And have had every other thing I've ordered in the same period arrive without a hitch...They claim they posted it, from the UK over two weeks ago!

I have not read Beale St but I have seen the film. Would recommend.

If Beale Street Could Talk sounds weirdly reminiscent - or the other way round in fact - of An American Marriage. Certainly the main theme is very similar.

Has anyone read both books? I've only read An American Marriage.

And Chessie definitely go to Hay-on-Wye! It's great. Just don't do what my friend did and end up in Ross-on-Wye by mistake. She dragged her husband round looking for the brilliant second-hand bookshops. After an hour they gave up and went home.

I have, highland. No contest. Beale St is a bona fide classic and American Marriage is a good modern novel but I don’t think we will be talking about it in ten years time. The themes are similar but Baldwin is a great writer, whereas Jones is a good writer.

Having read American Marriage and watched the film yes there is a similarity, but there is a focal shift midway in AM which differentiates itself IMO.

Oh, Pepe, I didn't know the ending is different in the Beale Street film! I kept wondering how the novel would end, couldn't figure out what it would be, then when I got there I hadn't predicted it but immediately felt it couldn't have ended any other way.

I've only read Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin; it sounds as if I should definitely read Beale Street too.

I read GTIOTM years ago, when our library book group decided to have a year of reading previously banned books. Really thought-provoking to see what was deemed unacceptable - and why - at certain times in history.

Furrowed Middlebrow must be wondering what on earth's happened to their sales figures

I'm trying not to buy books at the moment but have added Spam Tomorrow and Company in the Evening to my wishlist.